(4) Al-Baraʾ ibn ʿAzib said: “When the Messenger of Allah performed the prayer, he would jakhkha—that is, he would separate his arms from his sides.” Reported by al-Nasai, and by al-Hakim (1/228) – the latter being transmitted through him by al-Bayhaqi – from the chain of al-Nadr ibn Shumayl who said: Yunus ibn Abi Ishaq narrated to us, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Baraʾ. Al-Hakim declared it “sound according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim,” and al-Dhahabi agreed. Al-Nawawi likewise authenticated it (3/439), and Ibn Khuzayma also recorded it, as cited in al-Talkhis (3/474). It is further supported by a report of Ayyub ibn Jabir in the Musnad of al-Tayalisi (no. 98), and by Sharik in al-Tahawi (1/136) and in Ahmad; its wording appeared above on p. 726. (5) ʿAbd Allah ibn Aqram said: “I prayed behind the Messenger of Allah, and I could see the whiteness of his armpits whenever he prostrated.” Reported by al-Nasai; al-Tirmidhi (2/62-63); Ibn Majah (1/287); al-Hakim (1/227); al-Tahawi; al-Bayhaqi; and Ahmad (4/35) through Dawud ibn Qays, who said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Aqram al-Khuzaʿi narrated to me, saying, ‘My father transmitted it to me.’ Al-Hakim graded it “sahih,” and al-Dhahabi concurred; all the narrators are indeed trustworthy. Al-Tirmidhi, however, merely described it as “hasan,” which is a weaker appraisal. (6) Abu Hurayra – and from him there are several routes. The first: via Abu Mijlaz, from Bashir ibn Nuhayk, from Abu Hurayra who said: “If I had been standing in front of the Messenger of Allah during the prayer, I would have been able to see his armpits.” Abu Mijlaz added: “He evidently said this because it occurred while he was in prayer.”